Little is known about how students become involved in the various dimensions of student change and development as they make the transition from work or high school to college. This paper describes the results of a series of focus-group interviews with 132 diverse, new students entering either a community college; a liberal arts college; an urban, commuter, comprehensive university; or a large research university. The study identifies the human relationships, experiences, and themes characteristic of the processes by which students become (or fail to become) members of the academic and social communities on campus. Findings show that the transition from high school or work to college is an exceedingly complex phenomenon involving such things as personality, personal aspirations, and the nature and mission of the institution being attended. Implications are discussed that involve faculty members, administrators, and institutional researchers. These are as follows: (1) promote awareness of the varying character of the transition process for different kinds of students, (2) early validation as a central element in students' successful transition to college, (3) importance of faculty involvement in new student orientation programs, (4) orientation of parents as well as students, (5) importance of both in- and out-of-class experiences in the transition experience, (6) need for institutional accommodations, and (7) the need to care. Contains 17 references. (GLR)

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